Robot Velociraptor
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Robot Velociraptor
Internet round-up for the week of September 18, 2023
Happy Friday!
It’s been another long week of putting things in boxes, listing things for sale online, and somehow both organizing/becoming more disorganized at the same time. Like, all my crafting supplies1 are, maybe for the first time ever(!), in the same location…but unfortunately, that location is inside a plastic bin in the middle of our hallway.
We’re just two weeks away from being on the road back to the Midwest — but things are still looking good and *maybe slightly* ahead of schedule!
Last night we went to see the Giants play the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium, which was great! We live close enough to be able to take the VTA (light rail) over, so it was super convenient, and we couldn’t miss out on an opportunity to watch our favorite team (lose).
Last night was maybe the first time I’ve ever been to a large event of some kind where there was a long line waiting for the men’s restroom but there was no line at all for the women’s. What a dream! We were flying in and out of there while MEN WAITED TO PEE. We love to see it.
Anyway — I’m still trying to squeeze us in a trip to Muir Woods amongst all our other prep PLUS meeting up with friends before we leave. We’ve got a packed couple of weeks left, but I’m determined to make the most of it! (This also includes eating a lot of enchiladas from our fave Mexican takeout restaurant, El Amigo Burrito!)
Of course, through all the work and planning and football’ing I’ve still been heavily online, so here’s what I’ve got for ya this week:
I’m Being Personally Attacked
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THE OLDIES STATION?!
Just put me out to pasture, I guess.
I will say, this does explain one personal phenomenon — throughout the entirety of the 2010s Damon was constantly amazed that I knew the lyrics to every song playing in the grocery store. Now I think I might know why.
El*n M*sk
In a conversation this week with Benjamin Netanyahu, our favorite billionaire jagoff said he was considering charging people to use Twitter.
He suggested that such a change would be necessary to deal with the problem of bots on the platform.
“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” explained Musk.
Babe I literally never saw a single bot or had an issue before you took over Twitter!!
This is like me walking in to someone’s house, knocking all their priceless Ming vases onto the floor, then offering to glue them all back together for a fee.
BRO. YOU MADE THE MESS!!
Admittedly, if the site starts charging, I will absolutely stop using it.
On social media sites, the users are the product. Companies buy ads and they stick them in our feeds so we have to look at them. We should not have to pay to post our stupid little thoughts online!!
Wholesome Fun
I mean, cover the exit signs up for aesthetics at your own risk, hon!!
Perhaps the first time I get to accurately use the term ijbol, the lol/lmao of Gen Z.
Good Read(s)
This week, I read Nicolaia Rips' feature on the gals behind the TikTok account 2girls1bottl3. (Don’t worry — their channel isn’t actually related to the video they’re referencing with that name.) I see them a lot in my feed, and it was super interesting to learn more about Mixie and Munchie — including that they choose to remain completely anonymous online (and that, so far, they’ve actually been successful!).
And, the Atlantic had an interesting piece this week about Airbnb (paywalled after a limited number of articles, sorry) by Kate Lindsay. I found it particularly intriguing that the original idea of Airbnb was that you would have interactions with your host, especially considering that having to communicate with the host is one of my least favorite parts of renting an Airbnb.
Obviously, the outrageous cleaning fees and the work required to clean up are also annoying. But nothing compares to when I went to Salem with my friends and the host was so antsy about our arrival she picked us up at the train station and drove us to her house.
Then she walked us through the entire house and showed us things like where all the light switches are (not hard to find) plus told us that the home belonged to her husband’s first wife who had died. We started settling in and had to sort of make things a little awkward so she’d finally leave. Then for the next two days she texted me while we were out trying to get us to leave the tours we’d planned and come to a jazz club with her.
I didn’t leave a review because I just didn’t know what to say and I’d have felt bad complaining. (I mean, y’all know me. I gave an Uber driver a tip after he told me women were bad drivers.) She left me a nice review anyway. We cleaned up the house really well.
I don’t even like checking in or talking to people at a hotel front desk though, tbh. All that “hi, how are you” and “can I please have more toilet paper” is not for me. I’ll take a lockbox or a keycode over interacting with someone any day of the week. Alternatively, every hotel could be revamped so I can check in with a robot Velociraptor.
Randomly Selected Animal Cutie(s)
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This furry little genius recognizes the cadence of the Final Jeopardy clue well enough to know *just* when the music is going to start. I love him.
Also check out this video of Beavis the turtle taking a walk in NYC!
That’s it from me today! I’m off to pack more things and put some stuff up on Facebook Marketplace (weekends seem to be best for that type of thing). But mostly I’ll just be keeping myself busy until we get enchiladas later.
K
P.S. A slightly late-in-the-month announcement, but September will have no Deep Dives! Move preparations have pre-empted me from spending hours reading about stupid junk for you guys (okay, it’s mostly for me). I do plan to bring them back next month as soon as we’re settled, though!
Do not ask me how often I use said crafting supplies, or we will be forced to duel.
Robot Velociraptor
Good luck with your move!! Excited for future deep dives.